mrnorm_hemicide

iTrader: (17)

Hey Everyone,

Not sure where to post this, but I guess I'll start here. Well I just sold my ls1 and I'm searching the country for a solid roller to restore. I've got my eye on a '66 skylark gran sport clone that's outside Atlanta. I got a quote for $700 to ship it back to me here in Chicago. I figure that's cheaper than what I would pay to bring a truck and trailer (which I do not have) down there to bring it back. It has a motor and trans but I'm mainly buying it for the body. Therefore I feel like I don't need to see it personally when lots of pictures will suffice.

Anyway, I just wanted to know if anyone has bought a car out of state without physically going there to purchase the car (i.e. ebay, etc.). How did you make payment? Did you send a check, paypal? How did you set up a bill of sale? Did you have the original owner sign the title and mail it to you? I am not worried so much about the quality of the car not being what he says it is, as I am expecting numerous detailed pictures of the entire car so I will have a good idea as to whether its a rust bucket or not, but I just wanna know what to do to cover my *** in the event that the car that arrives at my door (if one arrives at all) isn't the one I see in the pics. The guy I've been talking to sounds like a stand-up guy and has been straightforward from the get-go, but you can never be sure. So if anyone has any input on how I should go about a purchase like this, I would greatly value your suggestions.

Again, I know most people will say "you should go there to inspect it", but I don't care if it runs or not, just that the frame, floorpans, trunkpan, firewall, radiator support, etc. are not rusted (which he says they aren't). Other than that I could care less if the car shows up without a motor

OSU Football Fan

iTrader: (23)

I've looked into this a little bit. Though I've never done it. I almost
bought a car once through ebay. The safest way is to use an escrow
service. The way it works is you send the escrow service the payment
for the car & they hold the payment until you have received & inspected
the car. Once you tell the escrow service that the car is as described
they release the funds to the seller. I don't know how much the car is
that you are buying. If it isn't that much you might consider using paypal.
I wouldn't trust paypal to get my money back though.

I'm not sure I can answer all of your questions. If I was you I would
have the owner fax a copy of the title to you before you buy the car.
If you go through an escrow service or use paypal, I wouldn't worry
about a bill of sale. You should get enough documentation from that.

I have heard horror stories of people buying classic cars over ebay.
A lot of people will use bondo to cover up rust & then advertise it
as rust free. I wouldn't buy a classic car without seeing it first.

Hope this helps.

MiniTransAm

iTrader: (3)

I bought my Trans Am out of state from a dealer. Luckily I was close enough to go down and look at the car and put $500 on it to hold it.

I did my own financing and paid with a certified check when I picked up the car. I double checked with my insurance and the policy from my other car would cover this car for 30 days until I got it registered and insured in my home state. Was pretty easy really.

I didn't have to pay any sales tax until I registered the car here.

RaggedRides

iTrader: (8)

I flew to Atlanta to get my Camaro, but it was only a 55 minute flight from Memphis. Buying a classic sight unseen is a gamble. My last car was almost 30 years old and looked damn near pristine until I started to get to know it. I found problem spots on the rear frame rail, drip valleys, underneath the seats and at the base of the windshield as it meets the fenders. Spots like this are easy to mask and tough to spot by just looking. Hell, my trunk looked mint up until my brother found a spot he could put a screwdriver through.

There's probably somewhere here who'd be willing to swing by and inspect it for you. The guy may be trustworthy, but may not know half the bad himself. Not to dissuade you, but I'd ask someone to go look.

That ****** is old.

Ubergeist

iTrader: (6)

I have to see a car before I buy it. Only once did I buy a car without looking at it.

I did buy a car from my uncle. Figured it looked new 3 years ago, so I trusted it looked good.

OMG, was the paint toast. Was a former image of itself. Mechancal wise it was like brand new, same with the interior.

Never again, tho.

mrnorm_hemicide

iTrader: (17)

Thanks a lot for the input guys. I don't think I want to go through the pita of buying a car out of state right now. Perhaps if it was a frame-off resto that was ready to go it'd be worth it. I guess I'll just get back in an f-body

joeytransam

i bought my ta out of state from fl off ebay it was brand new and from the dealer they sent it on a carrier and i did a full inspection and if i didnt sign for it, it would have gone right back i put 100 down to lock in the sale they sent me paperwork for it i sent it back with a bankcheck deposit and a week later i had my car the only thing i got f**cked on was i paid fl tax which is 4% when i went to register it with ny dmv (ny tax is 8.125% or something like that ) i had to pay the difference had the dealer charged me the ny tax rate upon request dmv wouldnt have care so just keep that in mind when u goto reg it good luck with the purchase

WSsick

iTrader: (13)

i dorve 4 hours to get my car out of state in Kansas. im perfectly happy with what i got make sure you get deatiled pictures (and be **** about detailed) so you know exactly what you are going to look at and any questions or things to inspect once you get there. also, maybe see if someone on here lives in the area. most people are nice enough that you can probably find 1 to check it out locally for you.

WSsick

iTrader: (13)

MinitransAm, i just saw your sig and it cracked me up! i thought i was the only one who saw the resemblance.